Flagship course · Gender and social
Gender Studies: Feminisms, Power & Social Change
Learn how gender structures power, through feminist theory, political economy, law and the movements of South Asia.
Start module 1What you will be able to do
- Work through the core arguments of Butler, Crenshaw, Connell, Agarwal, Kabeer and Menon from their own texts.
- Read what PWDVA, POSH, the 73rd Amendment and the Vishaka guidelines say, what they miss and how courts have read them.
- Use gender mainstreaming tools, care work measurement and GBV programme design in your own work.
About this course
Theory, Movements & Practice in South Asia and Beyond
A rigorous introduction to feminist theory, the political economy of gender, care work, law and rights, caste-gender intersections, and development practice: anchored in South Asian scholarship and global feminist thought. Built for practitioners, researchers, and anyone who wants to understand how gender structures power. Pairs well with our MEL course for gender-responsive evaluation.
Gender is a complex political system that assigns rights and restricts freedoms on the basis of sex. It is not a natural fact.Our summary of the argument in Nivedita Menon, Seeing Like a Feminist (2012)
- South Asia Focus
Reading list 
AI Study Companion Why study gender
Gender is a system of power rather than a personal attribute: one that shapes who does which labour, who owns property, who speaks in public, who survives violence, and who gets to define what counts as knowledge. Understanding how this system works, and where it can be challenged, is foundational to any serious development practice.
Theoretical Depth
Butler, Crenshaw, Connell, Agarwal, Kabeer, Menon, Chakravarti: primary texts and core arguments, not summaries.
South Asia Grounded
Caste-gender intersections, personal laws, the Indian women's movement, NFHS data: the scholarship that actually speaks to your context.
Law & Policy Fluency
PWDVA, POSH, the 73rd Amendment, the Vishaka guidelines: understand what the law says, what it misses, and how courts have interpreted it.
Practice-Ready
Gender mainstreaming tools, care work measurement via survey instruments, GBV programme design: theory connected to what you actually do in the field.
Assess yourself: Gender & development
Six auto-graded questions spanning the course: the sex/gender distinction, practical versus strategic gender needs, unpaid care work, intersectionality, gender mainstreaming, and measures of gender inequality. Pick an answer and check it; each explains the reasoning. Nothing is stored and there's no sign-in.
Gender studies lexicon
75 core terms across feminist theory, political economy, law, and development practice: with definitions, cross-references, and South Asian applications.
Browse Interactive Lexicon
Meet the Founders
ImpactMojo is built by development practitioners who wanted rigorous Development Know-How at zero cost: for everyone.
Development economist (PhD) specialising in social-impact measurement, gender studies, and development research across South Asia. At ImpactMojo, leads curriculum and course design.
Education and development professional (15+ years) specialising in early literacy, learning assessment, and programme design for schools across India. At ImpactMojo, designs learning programmes and coaching for practitioners.
Practise the material and continue learning
Every flagship course is part of a wider open-source learning network. The cards below cross-link this course with hands-on labs, AI study companions, the 101 Series, book summaries, reference handouts, live dojos, and Pro Studio tools.
No course-specific lab yet. Browse all 35 ImpactMojo Labs:
Ask the deck questions, get topic summaries, and generate study aids at your own pace.
Free 100-slide foundational primers that pair well with this flagship:
192 BookCompanion summaries, from development economics to evaluation method, with key concepts and field application notes:
84 print-optimised handouts across 10 tracks: methods, ethics, frameworks, lexicons, quick-reference cards.
56 bi-weekly dojo sessions in the South Asian dev-practitioner cohort: case clinics, paper discussions, live Q&A.
11 Pro Studio tools plus 1:1 coaching, cohort access, and certificates. Sliding-scale pricing.